Charlotte Soladorn was gone. In the chaos of the transition, she had simply vanished from her quarters. Regina logged it as a "personnel asset loss" and redirected security protocols. The threat of her, and the cold certainty she represented, lingered like a phantom limb.
Roxana, however, remained. She presented herself to the Council with a stack of data-slates. "The psychological profiles of every senior Syndicate enforcer, their likely breaking points, and which ones are just waiting for an excuse to trade their rifle for a resonator," she said, her tone devoid of its old sarcasm, replaced by a brisk, analytical sharpness. "You're trying to rebuild with logic and hope. Useful. But there are pieces on the board that only understand leverage. Let me manage the… discordant elements."
Regina, after a long, factual stare, assigned her to "Civil Stability Integration." Roxana's first act was to visit the most disgruntled former enforcer captain. She didn't offer threats or ideals. She showed him the schematics for the new "Harmonic Guardian" units—a proposed security force that would use focused resonance to calm riots and shield infrastructure. "The job's the same," she said. "Protect the asset. But the tool is more interesting than a stun-rod. Want to be the first to test it?"
He did. Roxana had a knack for speaking the language of pragmatic power.